


Something in the Way We Walk

by jaybird_elliott2020



Series: Son of Robin [10]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Abortion, Alpha Jason Todd, Alpha Jon Lane Kent, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, College, College Student Damian Wayne, Dad! Jason Todd, Discussion of Abortion, Good Friends, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mpreg, Nakedness, Omega Damian Wayne, Omega Tim Drake, Planned Parenthood, Rape Aftermath, Rape/Non-con Elements, Tim is Damian's Mom, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25738033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaybird_elliott2020/pseuds/jaybird_elliott2020
Summary: Damian thinks trouble find him. He might be right. But it's more likely that there's just enough bad in the world he encounters it around every corner.Alternatively: Damian is raped in college and it gets worse.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: Son of Robin [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839805
Comments: 9
Kudos: 110





	1. College Party

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry to keep y'all waiting. I wanted to do Damian's story justice and give him his own little fic rather than tack it onto the end of What We Waynes Dream Of. Here it is!

Damian made a point to keep his friend groups tight and small. He and Jon have been friends since first grade and for a long time Jon was Damian’s only real friend. Sure, he was polite, made acquaintance with classmates here and there (even dating one for a time), but he was never a social butterfly.

A lot of that changed when he got to college.

On the first day, he and his roommate hit it off instantly. His name was Winston, but the first thing he tells Damian when they meet is he prefers Winnie. Damian replies by giving Winnie clear orders to never shorten his name under threat of death.

“It’s Damian or nothing at all.”

Winnie didn’t argue with that, but also wasn’t off put by Damian’s combative and somewhat violent response to the beginning of their friendship. He reminded Damian a lot of Jon. They even roommed together again sophomore year.

Winnie wasn’t the only friend Damian made in college either. There’s Holly, who was in his Marine Biology Lab freshman year. She’s just as short tempered as Damian and they often go to the gym together to spar. Then there’s Kissinger, who lives on his hall and made it a point to insert themselves into Damian’s life when the school year began. Damian likes them a lot. And finally, there’s Oz. Now, Damian isn’t really sure about Oz. He was friends with Holly in their hometown and just kind of became a little more than a friend of a friend. Damian and him don’t hang out outside of their friend group, but they get along fine.

“There’s a party at Holly lab partner’s frat tonight,” Oz says, running into Damian and Winnie’s room.

“Not interested,” Damian announces.

“Aw c’mon, Damian,” Winnie responds, a whine heavy in his voice. He’s hanging off the top bunk and giving Damian a pouty lip. “It’s Friday night.”

“Exactly, I have work tomorrow, I have a lab report due Monday, and I’m calling my family. I always call my family on Fridays.”

“Didn’t your mom yell at you to go to a party or something last week? I don’t think he’ll mind,” Winne protests. “And you’ve already _finished_ the lab report, you just want to type it up and use a thesaurus to make you’re words more fancy—”

“Fancier,” Damian corrects.

“Whatever.”

“Aren’t you an English major?”

“Shut up!”

Damian chews on the end of his pencil. “You won’t get mad when I leave at midnight? I’m serious, I have an early shift tomorrow.”

“Super-duper roommate promise,” Winnie declares. He holds his pinky out.

Damian rolls his eyes but let’s their pinkies lock anyway.

Winnie looks back to Oz, who’s been standing in their doorway waiting for an answer.

“We’re in,” he tells him.

“Cool,” Oz says. “We’re all gonna meet up in Holly’s room at 8 to pre-game and get ready. See you there.”

~ ~ ~

When they get to the party Damian is already a little tipsy. Holly had been feeding him vodka and Red bull as fast as she could make them (which was pretty fast, Damian doesn’t think his cup was ever empty). He’s also not the only one who stumbles up the steps. Winnie is clinging to his shirt to keep himself steady and Holly has her hands in her pockets, watching the pavement to stay in a straight line.

Oz and Kissinger seem to be the only ones who are somewhat put together.

“Lightweights,” Oz mumbles to him, opening the door to reveal a crowded front room.

There are freshman and sophomores mingling around the drinks table, going a little too hard. The upper classman are chatting about their respective majors in the living room, swaying slightly but not falling over drunk like the underclassman are soon to be. There’s a pool out back and a few people are floating around in their underwear while a few more people are making out on the steps.

Damian wants to be overwhelmed, to tug on Winnie’s hand and get them out of there. Being in such a disorienting setting with so many people in an inebriated state goes against every safety talk he ever had with his parents. But he’s kind of relaxed. He’s used to the bustle, the noise, and even the drinking. It’s college, he thinks.

“Damian,” Winnie shouts over the music, it’s particularly loud in the front of the house. “I want a drink!”

“Me too!” Damian shouts back.

The two boys link hands and walk to where the freshman and sophomores are shot gunning beers over the sink.

This is another reason Damian is so relaxed in this setting. Winnie and him have cues to keep one another safe. They know when one of them is being cornered by a particularly aggressive alpha or when they’re uncomfortable with a conversation or they’re just generally overwhelmed. They make a point to go through parties together, linking hands when they move from room to room. (It also helps that it tends to make them look like a couple and keep away unwanted advances.)

“Peach vodka?’ Damian reads, picking up a bottle.

“Icky,” Winnie supplies. He pours something bubbly into a solo cup and hands it to Damian. “You’ll like this better.”

Damian drinks without question.

He _does_ like this. It’s like seltzer water with a tinge of alcohol that hits the sides of his tongue.

“I like it,” Damian tells Winnie.

“I know,” Winnie says, pouring himself a cup. “Let’s dance?”

Damian nods, letting Winnie pull him to one of the front rooms where the music loudest. They’re swallowed by the swarm of warm bodies already jumping and swaying to the beat. Their hands stay clasped tightly.

Despite the fact that Damian is more comfortable with the party scene, he’s still a little on edge in situations like this one. There are a lot of people who are cramped in a small space and it’s hard to keep track of friendly touches and not-so-friendly touches. It’s why Winnie is clinging to Damian’s hand as hard as he is. It’s why Damian lets him.

As the night progresses and Damian drinks more, he feels less of a need for the grounding presence of his roommate at his side, so they go off in their own worlds, flirting and drinking and chatting with people they don’t really know. They don’t stop looking out for one another, but they’re more content and relaxed. They don’t feel the need to look over their shoulders. They trust.

~ ~ ~

Damian starts making out with a guy around eleven thirty.

He’s older, maybe 22, and he has short brown hair and these honey-gold eyes that make something stir deep in Damian’s stomach. He hasn’t fucked anyone since Colin. He hasn’t really felt the need to. But now, he is really into whatever’s happening between them.

The guy has these firm hands that squeeze around Damian’s hips. He uses his teeth to get Damian’s attention when it wanders to someone walking by. He listens when Damian says “no, not there” or picks his hand up and guides it away from a particular spot.

“My room’s upstairs,” the guy mumbles against Damian’s mouth. “If … if you’re interested?”

“I’m interested,” Damian says firmly. He catches the boy’s lips again. “I just … give me like two minutes and I’ll meet you?”

The boy nods. He tells Damian it’s the third door on the left, he’ll leave it open.

Damian kisses him again and goes to find Winnie.

His roommate is mostly naked and swimming in the pool. There are a couple alphas, guys and girls, watching him, which sets something in his stomach off, but Winnie doesn’t seem uncomfortable with it so he lets it go.

“Hey!” Winnie greets him. “Guys this is my very bestest friend in the whole wide world who I’ve only kissed one and a half times, Dami!”

“Winston,” Damian shoots back. He crouches next to the pool. Winnie swims over to him. “I’m going upstairs with a guy,” he says when Winnie is close enough.

Winnie smirks. “There’s condoms in my shorts. Be safe?”

Damian nods. “Come find me before you leave, ok?”

“Will do, lover!” Winnie teases, blowing a kiss. Damian rolls his eyes. He knows Winnie is drunk now because he’s only ever leans this far into the couple thing when he’s _really_ far gone.

Damian leaves him.

~ ~ ~

The boy’s name is either Josh or Tiger, because Damian’s heard him called both in equal frequency all night. Playing it safe, when they kiss he lets himself moan “Josh” into the older boy’s ear. It makes him smile against his neck.

“This is embarrassing,” maybe Josh mumbles. “I don’t even know your name.”

“Damian,” Damian replies. “Don’t worry. I only kinda guessed yours.”

“Right,” Josh chuckles. “You know most of my friends call me Tiger.”

“That’s stupid. I’ll call you Josh,” Damian says.

Josh looks taken aback for a moment.

“Sorry,” Damian apologizes. “I … I don’t always think before I speak.”

“S’okay as long as you can keep it up in bed?”

Damian nods eagerly and lets Josh take his shirt off.

Things only escalate from there. Josh is a little too firm in moving Damian around on the bed, which Damian isn’t sure he appreciates, but he doesn’t say anything. And Josh doesn’t ask before he takes off his pants. Before he realizes it, he’s the only one who’s naked.

Josh is grinding on top of him, still in his jeans and t-shirt. He’s only taken off his sneakers.

“Um,” Damian mumbles. “Aren’t you gonna?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Josh grunts. He bites his lip and pulls his shift over his head. “Better?”

Damian nods, though he still feels exposed and vulnerable being the only one naked.

It isn’t until Josh starts palming his crotch that he really starts to think something’s wrong.

“Hey,” Damian hisses after a very much not appreciated grab at his dick, “I … I don’t, um, that didn’t feel great.”

“Don’t worry, baby, I’ll make it feel good,” Josh says, pushing his face into Damian’s neck. He starts nibbling at the skin on the front of his neck, wrapping a hand around his dick.

“I don’t like that,” Damian barks out, shoving Josh away. He’s moving up to the top of the bed, trying to get some distance between them.

“I told you I’d make you feel good,” Josh says. His voice is low and his fists are clenched at his sides. “I’m good in bed, every omega I’ve been with says so. Why won’t you just listen to me?”

“H-hey. It’s ok … I just … I’m not really comfortable with you touching me like that. It … it hurts. Alright? I don’t doubt your good in bed, but I don’t like that. You grabbing me like that,” Damian tries to explain.

It doesn’t help. Josh marches forward and pulls him down the bed, pinning him to the mattress.

Damian goes completely still.

~ ~ ~

Winnie has his arm thrown around Kissinger’s neck, letting himself be guided out the front door. Kissinger hasn’t drunk anything tonight. They’re usually the sober buddy of the friend group.

“Hey?” Winnie says, lolling his head over to where Holly is walking along the curb carrying her shoes. “Where’s Damian?”

Kissinger looks around and shrugs. “Not here,” they suggest.

“Damian’s gettin’ the D!” Holly barks out, laughing at herself and nearly falling into the street.

“Huh?” Kissinger says.

“Him and Josh went to bang in his room,” Oz translates. He turns back to Holly who is starting to run into the middle of the road. There aren’t any cars coming, but she’s making enough noise to wake the entire campus. “Holly! No!”  
  


“Josh?” Winnie mumbles. He starts pulling at Kissinger’s hold. “We gotta go back.”

“Why?” Kissinger asks.

“I was supposed to get him,” Winnie’s eyes are teary. Kissinger nods, understanding.

“We going back,” they announce, turning over to Holly and Oz who are almost wrestling on the asphalt.

“Ok,” Oz grunts, Holly’s hand in his face. He’s losing the fight.

~ ~ ~

Josh is sleeping. Damian hasn’t been able to move, even since he fell asleep, but now he’s starting to come back to himself.

His hips ache. His thighs are bruised. There’s a cut on his lip. Maybe. It hurts and Damian thinks he tasted blood. He shakes his head and sits up, careful not to disturb the bedsprings too much. He tracks down his clothes, getting as far as sliding into his underwear and T-shirt before Josh made a noise and rolled over in bed. The movement startled Damian so much he bolted without collecting the rest of his things.

He had his phone. He was decently covered. For now, that was enough.

When he gets outside the air isn’t as cold as he’s used to. It takes a few minutes for him to realizes that he’s not in Gotham anymore, before he remembers that August in other cities might not give you frostbite.

Kissinger and Winnie are coming towards the house. Winnie is holding onto Kissinger for stability, but he looks more sober in the face. When they see Damian coming out, he lets go of Kissinger and runs up the walkway. He doesn’t break stride until he’s crashing his body against Damian’s and wrapping him in a big hug.

There was a time, not too long ago, when Damian wouldn’t have wanted to be held like this by anyone but his mother (or maybe Jason). But right now he felt so raw, so emotional, so … vulnerable.

And Winnie was someone safe, someone he trusted.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’d never forget you,” Winnie assures him, petting his hair down. Damian squeeze him back and buries his face in Winnie’s neck.

“I wanna go home,” he mumbles, fighting the urge to sniffle.

Winnie nods.

Kissinger ends up carrying Winnie on their back. Damian walks ahead.


	2. Aftermath

“ _So have you thought about what your gonna do for Thanksgiving?”_ Jason says.

“I have to find a way to get home,” Damian replies. He’s sitting on his bed wrapped up in the blanket Alfred gave him as a going-away present. Jason is facetiming from their kitchen while he makes dinner.

“ _Mom can buy you a plane ticket. I can pick you up from the airport. What’s the big deal? You don’t wanna come home?_ ”

Damian knows Jason doesn’t mean to sound accusatory, but he does.

“So what if I don’t!” Damian barks back.

“ _Woah, calm down, little man, don’t have to get so worked up. I was only teasing._ ”

“Yeah, well I don’t like it, Jason. So please stop.”

There’s silence on the other end.

“ _Did you want to talk to anyone else? Mom, maybe?_ ”

“ _Who’s on the phone?_ ” someone calls from another room.

“ _Damian!”_

Footsteps approach and Tim appears on screen.

“ _Oh my sweet boy! How’s school? How was the party last week? Huh? How’re Winnie and the gang? You tell me everything while I get your plane ticket, ok?”_

Damian is left no room to answer any questions.

“ _Damian’s on the phone?_ ” Bash’s voice comes. “ _I wanna talk to him_!”

The phone quickly changes hands.

“Hey,” Damian says. Bash says hello back and takes him outside. He sits on the back porch on the swing. Damian can hear it’s raining. “What’re you doing?”

“ _I know you don’t want Mom and Dad to worry_ ,” Bash says. It makes Damian’s heartbeat skip to his throat. “ _But can you tell_ me _what’s going on?_ ”

Bash is a good little brother. He’s always been very emotionally intelligent and known what Damian needed from him. He’s a little goofy and way too alpha for his own good, but those aren’t all bad qualities.

“Nothing’s going on, Bash, I’m fine,” he assures him.

“ _Are you sure? I’ll tattle. I’ll do it. Don’t test me_.”

“Tattle on me? What’re you five? Also, you can’t tell on me anymore. I’m an adult. A full nineteen years old. Mom and Dad aren’t the boss of me anymore.”

“ _Are too_.”

“Are not.”

“ _Are too._ ”

“Bash, just give the phone back to Mom.”

Bash growls a little but brings the phone back inside and gives it back to Tim. Damian can hear Jason in the background asking Bash “What was that all about?”

“ _Everything ok?_ ” Tim asks.

“Bash was just being annoying. Ya know, little brother stuff.”

“ _Ha. I’m quite aware. Now are you gonna tell me about the party or not?”_

Damian swallows a lump in his throat. He knows he should tell his mother. If anyone will understand it’s him, but he really just can’t.

“Not much to tell,” Damian shrugs. “I drank a little, but not too much and me and Kissinger had to drag Winnie home.”

“ _That poor baby. You’re always dragging him. Kissinger’s a big kid, why don’t they just carry him?”_

Damian shrugs again. “Dunno. Not the Kissinger way.”

“ _Well I’m glad that you got out of your room at least. It makes me happy to see you having a good time out there._ ”

Damian wants to scream that he’s not having a good time, that it hurts him so much to be away from home right now because all he really wants is to hide in his bedroom and watch _The Office_ while his mother braids his hair and his dad cooks him a grilled cheese. He wants to cry out that he’s not ok right now that he’s thinking about killing himself again. He wants to not feel anything.

Tim sees his face wrinkling on the screen.

“ _Hey baby, everything ok?”_

Damian bites his lip and nods. “I’m fine.”

“ _Ok. Well you know you can talk to me right? About anything?_ ”

Damian nods. “I know.”

“ _Alright baby. You look tired. I’m gonna book you a ticket for the ninth of November and send you the info, ok?_ ”

“Ok Mom. I miss you.”

“ _I miss you too, baby. Stay safe out there?_ ”

“I will.”

“ _I love you Damian_.”

“Love you too Mom.”

“ _Hey, everyone say bye to Dami!_ ”

There’s a chorus of “ _Bye Dami!”_ out of sight.

Damian waits until his mother hangs up to start crying.

~ ~ ~

Around the end of October, Damian starts to get sick. He’s fatigued. His stomach hurts all day. He’s hungry but he can’t keep anything down. Winnie bullies him mercilessly until he finally drags him by the arm to the school nurse.

“He’s sick,” Winnie tells Nurse Jackson.

“ _He_ can speak for himself,” Damian growled, shoving Winnie’s hand off his arm. He isn’t sure how he didn’t manage to put up more of a fight.

“Well, Mr. Wayne, why don’t you come lay down in the back for me,” Nurse Jackson says.

Damian and Winnie both start for the back.

“Just Mr. Wayne,” Nurse Jackson says, holding a hand out to stop Winnie from following.

“But! Lover!” Winnie whines.

“Ignore him,” Damian says. “Winnie, stay.”

Winnie pouts but does as he’s asked.

Once in the back, Nurse Jackson has Damian take his shirt off so she can check his vitals and do a physical examination.

“Your breathing sounds a little labored,” she says. “You smoke?”

“No. My dad does, but he tries to keep it outside,” Damian explains.

“Alright. Have you traveled out of the country recently?”

“Went to Quebec for French class my senior year of high school, but nothing after that.”

“And before?”

“My mom and I went to Turkey when I was younger. I don’t really remember how old I was. My dad was out of the country from the time I was a baby until I was four, though.”

“Ok. What about any other symptoms? You feeling any pain?”  
  


“My stomach hurts.”

“Can you explain what it feels like?”

“Almost like I only did crunches for an hour straight. But also vomity?”

“Uh-huh. Anything else?”

“Well … I’ve been throwing up a bit, I don’t really have an appetite, and, um … my, uh, my chest hurts?”

“Do you mind?” Nurse Jackson points to Damian’s chest with her gloved hands.

Damian shakes his head. He does, but right now he just wants to get to the bottom of this.

Nurse Jackson places a gentle pressure onto Damian’s upper chest. Damian hisses and pulls back.

“That hurt?” she asks.

Damian nods. “Not a ton, but it’s defiantly not fun.”

“Have you been sexually active?”

Damian tenses. “Uh … not in the past three months.”

“Alright. Now I can’t diagnose you with anything, but I’m going to recommend something that might help.”

“Anything,” Damian replies.

“You should take a pregnancy test.”

Damian’s ears start ringing. A what?

“A _what_?”

“All your symptoms are of early pregnancy, probably ten to twelve weeks.”

“What?!”

Damian’s heart is hammering in his chest.

“Mr. Wayne, since you’ve been sexually active in the past three months, you’re going to want to take that pregnancy test.”

“But … but that’s not possible. I wasn’t … I wasn’t in heat, I’m on birth control. I’m … I’m _safe_.”

“Unfortunately, you _can_ get pregnant outside of heat and birth control is only 99% effective. All it takes is one time without a condom. Your chances are small, but not zero.”

The world doesn’t feel real. Damian wants to cry. Nurse Jackson puts a hand over Damian’s.

“There’s a Planned Parenthood about an hour from here. You can catch the three o’clock bus. Tell them Mary sent you from the college. They should be able to squeeze you in between appointments. They’ll give you a test and an ultrasound if it’s positive. You can decide what to do from there. Ok?”

Damian nods slowly.

“Alright. Now you should get going if you wanna catch that bus. I’ll call over and say I’m sending you.”

~ ~ ~

Damian takes the bus by himself. He doesn’t have the heart to tell Winnie where he’s going so he just says that Nurse Jackson is sending him to a doctor in the city. He promises to be back in time for dinner.

On the bus ride there, Damian tries to call his mother. He opens the contact info, hovers over the button, presses it a few times, and then hangs up immediately. Eventually he has to go to the back of the bus and throw up.

The Planned Parenthood is next to some apartment buildings and is its own office, not connected to anything else. The parking lot is small and there’s only a few cars outside. Damian wonders if anyone took the bus from the college like him. He really hopes not. He’s sure he’ll cry in the waiting room.

The lady at the counter is nice. Her name is Margie and she sound like she’s from Jersey, which is just a stone’s throw from Gotham. It makes him feel at home. She talks to him a little bit, asks him to fill out some forms, and then says someone will call him when it’s time for him to come back. She gives Damian a strawberry candy to suck on while he does the paperwork. It calms him a little bit, but doesn’t do much to help the nausea. For that, Margie gives him a ginger ale.

Damian doesn’t cry in the waiting room. He thinks it’s because Margie is so nice and the strawberry-ginger ale taste in his mouth is strange enough it’s all he can focus on. He’s proud of himself.

The doctor calls him to the back and he calls him by “Damian” instead of “Mr. Wayne” which Damian also likes because he always felt too young to be called Mr. Wayne. The only one he knew of who really went by it was his grandfather. He misses his grandfather.

The doctor tells Damian to call him Dr. Mark.

“How are you today Damian?” Dr. Mark asks.

“I’m fine,” Damian lies. His voice is shaking a little.

“It’s ok to be a little nervous, alright?” Dr. Mark assures him. “Now for right now, I’m going to have you pee in this cup, ok?”

“O-ok,” Damian says.

“After you do that, we’ll just pop a little strip in there and if it comes out pink you’re pregnant and if it’s blue, you’re not. Simple as that. Now if your test is positive, I’ll give you some reading material to take home with you and you can call back whenever you’re ready to make your next appointment, for whatever you need, ok?”

“Ok.” Damian feels a little better, a little less nervous, because Dr. Mark is so calm and lays everything out perfectly.

“The bathroom’s right around the corner, I’ll be here when you get back.”

Damian pees in the cup and brings it back to Dr. Mark.

Dr. Mark dunks the test strip in. When he pulls it out the strip is pink. He does two more before he turns to Damian and says: “You’re pregnant.” It’s very neutrally toned. He doesn’t sound excited for Damian or disappointed in him. He sounds like he’s just telling Damian he has a fever or a runny nose. It’s just a symptom.

Damian lets a tear fall over his cheek and he wipes it away quickly.

“Can I make an appointment for it … can I get an abortion?” Damian asks. He doesn’t really give himself time to process, he’d made up his mind before he even left the school nurse.

“You can,” Dr. Mark says. “I am going to recommend you go through all your options, but ultimately the decision is yours.”

“I already know what I want,” Damian’s voice is firmer. “I want an abortion.”

“Ok.”

They have to do an ultrasound, but Damian holds his ears and looks away when it happens. Dr. Mark spends the next half hour going over the different options Damian has at the moment. He’s fourteen weeks. He can get a D & C if he comes in within the next two weeks or a D & E up until he’s 21 weeks. After that, there aren’t any more choices. Deep down, Damian is grateful he found out when he did. He grateful Winnie dragged him to the school nurse. He grateful he _has_ these options. But it all hurts.

~ ~ ~

Damian cries on Winnie’s bed for hours after he returns. He can’t really tell him everything. He tells him some of it. He tells him he’s pregnant and he tells him he’s going to get an abortion and he tells him he doesn’t want anyone else to know. Winnie pets his hair, promises to come with him.

His procedure is on a Wednesday and he has to miss classes for the rest of the week. Dr. Mark is preforming. He’s going to go under for less than an hour and when he wakes up he won’t be pregnant anymore. Kissinger drives, because they’re the only one with a license and a car, but they don’t ask any questions.

He doesn’t tell Holly or Oz. Or his parents. Or Bash. Or Colin. Or Jon. Or Josh. He doesn’t think anyone else needs to know. He thinks he can do this by himself.


	3. Motherhood

In December, Damian goes home for winter break.

He’s been fine the past few months. There was a lot of bleeding the days after the procedure and he was in a lot of pain physically, but once it was all over, things seemed to go back to normal. Sure, Damian’s nightmares started again, he came close to swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills one night, and he hardly went anywhere but to classes. He even quit his job. But he was fine. Right?

At the airport, Damian is happy to see Jason holding up a cardboard sign that says “Mr. Damian Wayne-Todd.” It’s decorated with gem stickers and glitter glue. Izzie is on their father’s shoulders, waving.

“Hi!” Damian says, smiling his biggest smile. He helps Izzie off Jason’s shoulders and wraps her in a tight hug. She still smells like a pup, but there’s the signature sweet omega scent underneath. She’s six.

“I missed you, Damian,” she mumbles into his jacket.

“I missed you, Isabelle,” Damian replies.

When he puts her down, Jason comes up and wraps an arm around him. He plants a kiss on Damian’s forehead.

“Good to see you home, bud,” he says.

“Good to be home,” Damian says. And he means it, he really does.

When they arrive at the Todd house it’s utter chaos. All Damian’s aunts and uncles are in the living room having a loud discussion and Tim is barking at Bash for breaking a lamp while demonstrating how he took down a kid in pee-wee football.

Damian feels at home.

“Damian!” everyone screams.

Dick is the first one to get him, wrapping him up in his best octopus hug, lifting him off the ground and kissing his cheek. Damian wriggles to get away but he’s laughing.

“Hey! Show some love for your favorite aunt?” Babs calls out, waving her arms and beckoning Damian to her.

Damian leans down and lets her give him a looser, much more appropriate hug. Before she pulls away, she whispers in his ear.

“If Uncle Dick gives you trouble, let me know and I’ll play goalie.”

Damian smiles and kisses her cheek. He’s not one to kiss people like most of his family, but his Aunt Babs had always been the exception to every rule.

Bruce gets to him next, making sure to give him a welcome home gift (it’s just a new sweatshirt, but Damian loves it).

Cass and Steph greet him from the couch. Steph is pregnant with their first kid and Cass is hovering.

“Welcome home Demon Spawn,” Steph says.

Cass nods, like she agrees with Steph, but she might as well be saying “I missed you.”

Damian nods in acknowledgement.

Kon and Jon are both there too. Jon looks like he’s about to vibrate out of his skin, but Kon has a firm hand holding him in place When it seems clear that pretty much everyone has greeted him, Kon lets him go.

Jon almost breaks the coffee table with how hard he tackles Damian.

“OW!” Damian yelps. Jon keeps himself planted in Damian’s chest, nuzzling and scenting him mercilessly. “Jon! Get off!”

“No,” Jon declares. “I hardly ever see you anymore. I’m staying right here.”

Damian chuckles. “No you’re not. We can hang out all night. Ok? I’m gonna be home for a month. You’ll have plenty of time.”

“Only a month? Are you sure you don’t want to go to Gotham U?”

“They don’t have a vet program, Jon.”

“I’ll make them get one.”

When Jon finally does let Damian get up, Bash is waiting.

“Hey Bash Bash,” Jon says. “Sorry I was hogging your brother. He’s all yours.”

Bash give Damian a quick hug.

“We’ll talk later,” he orders, narrowing his eyes before vanishing.

“Ok?” Damian replies after his brother is long gone.

There’s only one person Damian hasn’t said hello to. And he’s not sure he’s ready.

“Dami—”  
  


“Dad!” Damian calls out. “Can you help me take my bags upstairs?”

“Uh, sure, bud,” Jason says.

~ ~ ~

Everyone ate dinner and then slowly trickled out of the house. By nine, Jason was carrying Izzie up to bed while Tim bid Bruce goodnight. When the door closed, there was no one left.

Tim came and sat by Damian on the couch.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hi,” Damian replies. He’s not really paying attention. Winnie is texting him about how bored he is on campus alone.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah. Just Winnie. He’s alone in the dorm room.”

“Oh? You should’ve invited him here. I wouldn’t’ve minded.”

“S’okay. He’s complaining now, but he’s happy to have some alone time.”

Tim nods and relaxes into the couch a little bit.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages,” he admits.

“S’ only been … well I guess it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, you know Dad was super disappointed you didn’t come home for Thanksgiving.”

“Sorry. I had that project and Winnie was sick. I couldn’t leave.” His heart tugs a little at he lies to his mother.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. You’re an adult now. It’s only natural you don’t want to spend all your time at home with your parents.”

But the thing was, Damian _did_ want that. He wanted to come home for Thanksgiving more than anything, but he was too afraid Tim would be able to _tell_.

“Yeah,” Damian chuckles dryly.

Tim catches it. He leans a little closer and sees that Damian’s eyes are dark and baggy. He’s fighting sleep in a way Tim hasn’t seen him do since just before his suicide attempt. He looks at Damian’s arms. They’re covered by a long sleeve shirt and Damian is scratching at his wrists. If Tim looks close enough he can see some new (but faint) scars that peek out on the back of his hand.

“Did something happen, Damian?” Tim asks. Damian nearly jumps out of his skin at the sudden seriousness in his voice.

“Huh? What makes you say that?” Damian yelps, pulling his arms closer to his body and tugging the sleeve fully over his fingers.

“Damian, what happened?”

“Nothing! Nothing happened! Everything’s fine. I’m fine.”

“No you aren’t.” Tim turns so he’s facing Damian completely. “Look at me.” Damian tentatively locks eyes with his mother. He’s almost crying. “Something’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Damian protest, but the tears on the edge of his vision are spilling. He has to take a big breath to compose himself again.

Tim wants to hug him, but he needs answers.   
  


“What happened?” he asks again.

Damian bows his head and pulls his knees up under his chin. He hides his face and a loud sob racks his body.

“It’s ok. Whatever it is, I won’t be mad. It’s ok.”

“It’s not,” Damian cries curling tighter into himself.

“Let me decide that. Tell me what happened.”

“I …” Damian loses his voice to a sob again.

Tim reaches out and rubs Damian’s back. When the sobs quiet a little, he pulls Damian closer and lets him rest his head on his chest.

“Take a breath, baby. It’s ok. There’s no rush, alright? Just take a breath. Do you remember the counts Dad taught you?”

Damian nods. He starts counting under his breath. When it evens out a little, he starts to ground himself. Instead of counting under his breath he’s listing all the things he can feel, all the things he can taste, all the things he can smell, all the things he can touch. He’s calmer.

“You want to try again?” Tim coaxes.

“I was pregnant,” Damian says. He doesn’t miss a beat. Once it’s out, he’s crying again, but the point is, he gets it out.

Tim keeps his breath from stopping too long.

“You _were_? Are you not anymore?”

Damian shakes his head. He’s crying again, but they aren’t sobs, he feels a bit more like he’s in control.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“So bad!” Damian wails. He tightens his hold and presses harder into Tim’s chest.

“Ok, ok. It’s ok, hon, it’s ok. Take a breath. Start from the beginning.”

Damian inhales, holds it, and then exhales shakily.

“That party,” he starts, “it happened then.”

“Ok. Will you tell me who it was with?”

“A-a boy. His name was Josh.”

“Ok. Ok, shh. It’s ok.”

“I don’t remember. I don’t remember, Mom. It’s all … all a blur.”

Tim’s hold tightens. “Alright, alright.” He’s rocking his son.

“Then I was sick. A-and Winnie took me to the nurse and she sent me to Planned Parenthood and they did the test and it was positive and then the guy, he had to do an ultrasound and I couldn’t look. And then I went back and I got an abortion, Mom I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t be made at me! Please!”

“Hey, hey, hey, no, I’m not mad. Do I look mad? I’m _not_ mad, baby. I promise.”

Damian sniffles.

“It hurt so bad,” he mumbles. “I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to be there. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“It’s ok, hon, I get it. I really, really get it.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do.” Tim kisses his son’s head. “I know I don’t talk about it a lot, but there was so much thought that went into having you. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret a _second_ of it, but … but when you’re so young … when the world seems like it’s out to get you … I get it baby, I do.”

“You were going to have an abortion?” Damian whimpers.

Tim bites his lip and nods. He takes a long pause, thinks a lot about what he’s going to say next.

“I did,” Tim finally manages.

“What?”

“I … I did have an abortion.”

Damian lifts his head and pulls away. He moves so he’s facing his mother and his back is pressed into the armrest.

“You had an abortion?” Damian asks.

“ _You had an abortion?”_ Jason repeats.

Both Damian and Tim jerk their heads to the stairwell where Jason is standing with his hands balled up in fists by his sides.

“Jay,” Tim says, his voice a soft whisper.

“Wha—when? Why didn’t … why didn’t you tell me?” he asks.

Damian’s hands are shaking. He’s moving closer to Tim, getting ready to get in between Jason and him should anything happen.

“I—” Tim chokes on his own words.

“Tim, I don’t … I don’t understand,” Jason says. He comes and sits on the coffee table in front of his husband.

“It was so long ago!” Tim says. “I-I was young and Damian was still a baby and we weren’t even anything and you were gone and I couldn’t raise two kids alone and—”  
  


“Wait!” Jason yelps. “Wait, it was … mine?”

Tim looks down at his lap and nods.

“You could’ve told me, my love, you could’ve told me,” Jason says, reaching out and grabbing Tim’s hands.

“Not then. I had to … I couldn’t think too much about it. I just … I had to keep moving forward,” Tim explains, he wipes his eyes furiously and tries to regain his composure.

“I would’ve come back,” Jason whispers.

“You wouldn’t’ve,” Tim replies. “But it’s ok! It’s ok, really, because I love our family. I love everything it is _now_. There … there isn’t anyone missing. I made the right choice. I did. I _know_ I did, because everything led me to you and to Bash and Izzie and to Damian having a family and … it’s good now, sweetheart. It is. I promise.”

Jason kisses Tim’s nose gently and gives him a soothing hug. When they pull away Jason tries to be slick about wiping his eye, but both Damian and Tim see.

“Uh … can I ask _why_ this came up in conversation?” Jason asks, trying to laugh a little.

Tim and Damian exchange a look and Damian clears his throat.

“I … um … I was pregnant. In November. And I had an abortion. It’s … it’s why I didn’t come home for Thanksgiving.”

“Oh,” Jason mumbles. “Are … are you ok?”

Damian shakes his head and drags the back of his hand across his eye. “I’m not as cool as Mom,” he pokes. He laughs a bit through the tears.

They all laugh a bit through the tears.

“Ok. Ok. Just … you can tell us this stuff, ya know?” Jason tells him. “We won’t be mad. We won’t even talk about it. We’ll just be there for you. You don’t have to do this kind of thing alone.”

“Right,” Damian says. “Thanks.”

“We love you, Dami,” Tim declares. He kisses his son’s cheek.

“So much,” Jason adds. He kisses his son’s cheek too.

“I love you too,” Damian replies. He gives them a smile and it doesn’t feel forced. It feels … it feels like his own.


End file.
